The owners of the Chicago Cubs and Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fund tycoon, have joined forces to table a blockbuster bid for Chelsea Football Club.
Sky News can exclusively reveal that the Ricketts family and Mr Griffin have formed an investment group that will lodge a formal offer for last season’s Champions League-winners on Friday.
The development, which will be publicly announced on Wednesday, presents a formidable competitor to rival bidders as Roman Abramovich’s 19-year tenure as Chelsea’s owner draws to a conclusion.
The Ricketts’ joint bid with Mr Griffin – and potentially further co-investors – makes the Cubs owners the latest in a string of American sports billionaires to prepare firm offers for Chelsea in what is shaping up to become the most hotly contested auction of a Premier League club in history.
Sources close to their impending bid said the Ricketts’ record of success with the Chicago Cubs and the financial firepower of their consortium would make an ideal recipe for success at Stamford Bridge.
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The last six years have been the most successful in the Cubs’ history – winning the World Series and completing a $1bn renovation of the team’s home, Wrigley Field, which is one of the most historic sports arenas in the US, having been built in 1914.
A source close to the consortium said it had been the largest privately financed stadium restoration project in US history.
“Wrigley Field was transformed from terminal disrepair to a national treasure,” the source said.
That narrative is expected to be deployed amid the ongoing debate about the future of Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea fans and executives generally accept will need extensive expansion work if the club is to compete sustainably with European rivals which boast much larger capacities.
Mr Griffin’s involvement adds enormous financial clout to the bid.
He is the founder and chief executive of Citadel Asset Management and among the most successful executives in the history of Wall Street.
Forbes magazine recently estimated his wealth at $26.5bn, making him the richest individual to be publicly linked with the Chelsea auction so far.
The source said the Ricketts-Griffin bid would be “the most complete bid on the table – no one else has had the on-field success the Ricketts Family have had with the Cubs, combined with successfully completing a massive renovation of an historic stadium”.
More to follow….
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